A rolling stone gathers no Mossberg

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It looks like CNBC will have to figure out another way to bring in the viewers when the Apple 3G iPhone comes out. The old tried-and-true method, bringing on Wall Street Journal personal technology columnist Walt Mossberg, isn’t going to work anymore.

We got a press release, but will defer to Silicon Alley Insider, which looks like it had the news first — Walt is going to the Fox Business Network instead:

Mossberg is scheduled to appear weekly on Fox Business Network, meaning he will no longer be doing his “Personal Technology” segments on CNBC. Mossberg’s last appearance on CNBC was last week, sources said. He’ll start on FBN on Wednesday with an 11 a.m segment with morning co-anchors Dagen McDowell and Brian Sullivan. His regular weekly spot will be Thursdays at 11 a.m.

And here’s the canned quote from the Fox Business press release, attributed to Fox News Executive VP Kevin Magee:

“Walt is the most well-respected personal technology reporter in the industry, and his insights on new products not only influences consumer purchasing behavior but the technology sector as a whole. We are pleased to welcome him to FBN.”

We like David Pogue and Rob Pegoraro too, but there’s no arguing with Mossberg’s influence on regular people aching to throw their money at gadgets.

The media angle to all this is that CNBC was supposed to have a exclusive agreement for Journal talent appearing on its show, but as Silicon Alley Insider notes, this applies to business news and “regularly-scheduled branded segments.”